Jeremy Corbyn - Labour leader, but what's he like as an MP?

SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2015

As the Labour leadership election dust begins to settle and the future of New Old Labour is set, Islington North constituents discuss Jeremy Corbyn's work as their MP for 32 years.

Jeremy Corbyn - Labour Leader, But What's He Like as an MP by Thavam Ratna

Opposition rallies in Moscow to demand fair elections

Opposition supporters attend a rally in Moscow, Russia, September 20, 2015. Thousands of people rallied on the streets of Moscow on Sunday to demand fair elections and challenge Vladimir Putin's 15-year-old rule, in the first significant opposition protest in the capital for...

Opposition supporters holding a portrait of killed Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov attend a rally in Moscow, Russia, September 20, 2015.

 Sun Sep 20, 2015

Thousands of people rallied on the streets of Moscow on Sunday to demand fair elections and challenge Vladimir Putin's 15-year-old rule, in the first significant opposition protest in the capital for months.

The gathering was restricted by authorities to a district of southern Moscow. Police said no more than 500 took part, while a Reuters witness said there were some 3,000 protesters.

"Putin is a bureaucrat, not the czar," one poster said. Opposition leaders, including anti-Kremlin figurehead Alexei Navalny, said they were protesting against what they called Putin's "lifelong" rule.

"Russia will be free!" Ilya Yashin told the rally. "We will not depart from the country and leave it in the mercy of 'crooks and thieves'," he said, referring to a phrase coined by Navalny to describe Russia's ruling party.

The turnout was a far cry from the 100,000 who marched in December 2011 in anger at widely-reported violations of a parliamentary election.

Thousands of Muscovites marched through the city in March this year in the memory of slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.

At Sunday's rally there were posters related to the killing of Nemtsov and a general crackdown on political dissent.

Putin has now been Russia's dominant leader since 2000, when ailing President Boris Yeltsin chose him as his successor. Earlier this month, the ruling United Russia party swept regional elections.

Russia will hold a presidential vote in 2018. Putin, who is eligible to run for the six-year presidency again, has not yet said if he will be a candidate.

(Reporting by Andrey Kuzmin; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Andrew Roche)

Jimmy Morales used to do blackface comedy. He’s now poised to be Guatemala’s president.

Comedian Jimmy Morales, a candidate for president of Guatemala whose outsider status has helped him surge ahead in the polls. Sound familiar? (Esteban Biba/European Pressphoto Agency)

By Joshua-Partlow-September 19

MEXICO CITY — As a TV comedian, Jimmy Morales has played bumbling drunks, spies, gangsters, a toga-wearing Socrates, even a blackface character with an Afro wig and a painted white mouth. Among the plots of his Guatemalan comedy bits was a cowboy who accidentally became president.

Jimmy Morales Used to Do Blackface Comedy. He’s Now Poised to Be Guatemala’s President. by Thavam Ratna

2.3 million people respond to Indian job posting

In this March 22, 2012 file photo, unemployed Indians stand in a queue to register themselves at the Employment Exchange Office in Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

Biswajeet Banerjee-September 18, 2015

LUCKNOW, India -- When a northern Indian state announced a few hundred job openings for low-level office workers who run errands and make tea, the response was staggering.

About 2.3 million people applied for the 368 jobs with the government of Uttar Pradesh. Hundreds of candidates with doctorates and other advanced degrees applied for the jobs that pay about 16,000 rupees ($240) a month and require a fifth-grade education.

The massive number seeking the menial jobs reflects high unemployment levels in the state -- India's most populous -- and across much of the country.

Senior administrative officer Prabhat Mittal said Friday that the state government will conduct a written exam to screen the applicants because interviewing all of them would take four years.

"This is astoundingly high number of applicants," senior government officer Alok Ranjan said.

"This reflects the condition of job market in India and shows desperation of the youth who despite being highly educated is ready to do a job where he has to run errands and wash tea cups and saucers," he added.

The job openings were advertised in August and the application period ended on Sept. 14.

At least 255 applicants had earned a doctorate and over 200,000 had graduate degrees. At least 30 trained computer engineers were also in the fray.

Job creation is an urgent requirement in this nation of 1.2 billion where 13 million young people enter the job market each year.

According to government data about 6.6 per cent of India's workers are jobless. That doesn't count the tens of millions who eke out a subsistence-level existence in menial, unsafe and backbreaking jobs. The employment situation is worse for young job-seekers with government statistics placing the number of unemployed higher at about 10.5 per cent.

The poor quality of education in India is partly to blame for the problem. Millions of job seekers have impressive sounding diplomas but don't actually have the skills promised by their certificates from substandard colleges and technical institutes.

Business scammed into handing over £1million to bogus caller

A company in Suffolk is thought to have become the biggest single victim of a phone scam after handing over £1 million to bogus caller

Cybersecurity has become a serious challenge with the ceaseless emergence of internet criminal acts Photo: Alamy

By Agency

3:16PM BST 20 Sep 2015

A business was conned into handing over more than £1m to a bogus caller who was pretending to be from the firm's bank.

The fraud is believed to have netted the largest ever amount from a telephone banking scam in the UK.

Business scammed into handing over £1million to bogus caller by Thavam Ratna

This is Your Brain. This is Your Brain as a Weapon.

Cutting-edge neural technologies can erase traumatic memories and read people’s thoughts. They could also become the 21st century’s next battleground.

BY TIM REQUARTH
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JIMMY TURRELL

On an otherwise routine July day, inside a laboratory at Duke University, two rhesus monkeys sat in separate rooms, each watching a computer screen that featured an image of a virtual arm in two-dimensional space. The monkeys' task was to guide the arm from the center of the screen to a target, and when they did so successfully, the researchers rewarded them with sips of juice.

This is Your Brain. This is Your Brain as a Weapon. by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka, and India too, Must Account for Letting Slip the Dogs of War

Whether the families of the victims – or the survivors – will ever find justice when the state refuses to acknowledge that enormous crimes were committed, is moot. That is a battle which must be fought

Undated photograph of Balachandran Prabhakaran, the 12-year-old son of LTTE chief Prabhakaran, in the custody of the Sri Lankan Army. A subsequent photograph taken soon after shows him dead with bullet injuries in his chest. See below.
Credit: No Fire Zone

BY SATYABRATA PAL ON 18/09/2015

The report of the Investigation on Sri Lanka –  carried out by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and released on September 16, 2015 together with the High Commissioner’s overview – details the lawless savagery with which Sri Lanka fought its war against the LTTE, an enemy just as brutal, though unable to match the scale on which the machinery of a State could terrorise when it went rogue.
Sri Lanka, And India Too, Must Account for Letting Slip the Dogs of War by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka: Consultative process is necessary for a Hybrid Court – North -East Women ( WAN)

( Families of the disappeared call for justice, June 2015, at UNHRC)

Sri Lankan mothers from the “Dead and Missing Person’s Parents” organisation hold photographs as they takes part in a protest in Jaffna, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Colombo on November 15, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron is flying to Jaffna, which bore the main brunt of the fighting, to meet victims of a war which raged for 37 years. AFP PHOTO/LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHILAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images

19/09/2015

Women’s Action Network (WAN) welcomes the OISL report presented on Wednesday to the 30th session of the UNHRC by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We fully endorse the attention brought to sexual violence and the forceful call to end impunity.

Sri Lanka Consultative Process is Necessary for a Hybrid Court – North -East Women ( WAN) by Thavam Ratna

விசாரணை அறிக்கையை வரவேற்கிறோம் : விக்­கி­ர­ம­பாகு

by MD.Lucias on Sat, 09/19/2015

இலங்­கையில் இடம்­பெற்­றுள்ள போர்க்­குற்­றங்கள் மற்றும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் தொடர்பில் விசேட கலப்பு நீதி­மன்றம் மூலம் விசா­ர­ணை­களை மேற்­கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற அடிப்­ப­டையில் ஐக்­கிய நாடுகள் மனித உரிமை அலு­வ­லகம் வெளி­யிட்­டுள்ள விசா­ரணை அறிக்­கையை வர­வேற்­ப­தாக நவ­ச­ம­ச­மாஜக் கட்­சியின் தலைவர் விக்­கி­ர­ம­பாகு கரு­ணா­ரட்ண தெரி­வித்தார்.

சர்­வ­தேச நாடு­களின் நம்­பிக்கையின் பிர­காரம் நாட்டில் ஜன­நா­ய­கத்தை நிலை­நாட்­டவும் மூவின மக்­களின் உரி­மை­களை பாது­காக்­கவும் ஐக்­கிய நாடு­களின் பரிந்­து­ரை­களை நிறை­வேற்ற அர­சா­னது நட­வ­டிக்­கை­களை முன்­னெ­டுக்க வேண்டும் எனவும் வலி­யு­றுத்­தினார்.
கொழும்பில் அமைந்­துள்ள நவ­ச­ம­ச­மாஜக் கட்­சியின் அலு­வ­ல­கத்தில்  இடம்­பெற்ற ஊட­க­வி­ய­லாளர் சந்­திப்­பி­லேயே அவர் மேற்­கண்­ட­வாறு தெரி­வித்தார்.
அவர் தொடர்ந்து உரை­யாற்­று­கையில்,
இலங்­கையில் இடம்­பெற்­றுள்ள போர்க்­குற்­றங்கள் மற்றும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் தொடர்பில் சர்­வ­தேச நீதி­ப­திகள், சட்­ட­த்த­ர­ணிகள் மற்றும் விசா­ரணை­யா­ளர்­களை உள்­ள­டக்­கிய விசேட கலப்பு நீதி­மன்றம் ஒன்றை அமைத்து விசா­ர­ணைகள் முன்­னெ­டுக்க வேண்டும் என்ற அடிப்­ப­டையில் ஐக்­கிய நாடுகள் மனித உரிமை அலு­வ­லகம் வெளி­யிட்­டுள்ள விசா­ரணை அறிக்­கையை நாம் வர­வேற்­கின்றோம்.
முன்னாள் ஜனா­தி­பதி மஹிந்த ராஜபக் ஷவின் ஆட்சிக் காலத்தில் ஆட்­சியை முன்­னெ­டுத்த பாசிச குழு­வி­ன­ரி­னது சில மோச­மான செயற்­பா­டுகளின் மத்­தி­யி­லேயே யுத்­தத்தின் இறு­திக்­கட்ட நட­வ­டிக்­கைகள் முன்­னெ­டுக்­கப்­பட்­டது.
அந்­த­வ­கையில் இன்று யுத்த காலப்­ப­கு­தியில் இடம்­பெற்ற போர்க்­குற்­றங்கள் மற்றும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் தொடர்பில் ஐக்­கிய நாடுகள் மனித உரிமை அலு­வ­லகம் வெளி­யிட்­டுள்ள விசா­ரணை அறிக்­கையில் உள்­ள­டக்­கப்­பட்­டி­ரு­க்கின்ற விட­யங்கள் தொடர்பில் முன்­னைய ஆட்­சியின் அர­சியல் பிர­மு­கர்­களே பொறுப்புக் கூற வேண் டும்.
கடந்த ஜன­வரி 8 ஆம் திகதி சர்­வ­ாதி­கார ஆட்­சிக்கும் பாசி­ச­வா­தி­களின் செயற்­பா­டு­க­ளுக்கு முற்று புள்ளி வைக்கும் நோக்­கு­ட­னேயே மூவின மக்­களும் ஒன்­றி­ணைந்து நாட்டில் ஆட்சி மாற்றம் ஒன்றை ஏற்­ப­டுத்­தினர்.
அந்­த­வ­கையில் மீண்டும் முன்னாள் ஜனா­தி­ப­தியின் ஆத­ரவு தரப்­பினர் சர்­வா­தி­கார ஆட்­சியை மீண்டும் தொடர செயற்­பா­டு­களை முன்­னெ­டுத்த வேளை மீண்டும் மக்­களால் இவர்கள் தோற்­க­டிக்­கப்­பட்­டனர்.
இன்­றைய தேசிய அர­சாங்­கத்தின் பிர­தமர் ரணில் விக்­கி­ர­ம­சிங்­க­வினால் யுத்த காலப்­ப­கு­தியில் அப்­பாவி மக்­களை காப்­பாற்றும் நோக்­குடன் விடு­தலை புலி­க­ளுடன் போர் நிறுத்தம் தொடர்பில் ஒப்­பந்தம் ஒன்று கைசாத்­திட முயற்­சித்த செயற் பா­டு­களும் அன்­றைய காலக்­கட்­டத்தில் தோல்வி கண்­டது.
அந்­த­வ­கையில் இன்­றைய அர­சா­னது மக்­களின் நம்­பிக்­கையின் பிர­காரம் நாட்டில் ஜன­நா­யகத்­தையும் சட்­டத்­தையும் உரியமுறையில் நிறை­வேற்ற முயற்­சி­களை மேற்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.
கடந்த காலங்­களில் நாட்டில் சட்டம் மற்றும் நீதித்துறை என்பன சர்வாதிகார சக்திகளிடம் அடி பணிந்து காணப்பட்டது. அந்தவகையிலேயே இன்று இலங்கை இவ்வாறான நிலைமை ஒன்றுக்கு முகம் கொடுத்துள்ளது.
எனவே புதிய அரசானது ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் மனித உரிமை அலுவலகம் வெளியிட்டுள்ள பரிந்துரைகள் தொடர்பில் கவனம் செலுத்த வேண்டும் என்றார்.

Tamils & The Political Culture Of Auto-Genocide – II

By Rajan Hoole –September 19, 2015

Dr. Rajan Hoole

The Murder of Neelan Tiruchelvam

Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber in Colombo on 29th June 1999. The reactions to the murder tell us a good deal about how the ordinary Tamil people are cornered, silenced and suffocated by the elite lobby that speaks up for the LTTE. Members of this lobby – Kumar Ponnambalam (now deceased), Nadesan Satyendra and Wakeley Paul inclusive – have denounced Neelan Tiruchelvam as a traitor, and have in effect passed a posthumous death sentence on him. Fr. Xavier, a Tamil Anglican priest in Canada, when asked for his response to the murder by a Canadian human rights activist, replied that he had prayed about it. As though in answer to his prayer, he produced several responses from fellow Tamils. Among them were suggestions such as declaring the day of the murder a pubic holiday to commemorate the suicide killer who rid the Tamils of a traitor!

Thinakkural, the Tamil daily in Colombo edited by Sivanesachelvan, editorially mourned the loss of Neelan Tiruchelvam who had personally been helpful to the editor. The next day, the same paper published a cartoon justifying the murder. The cartoon in the form of the neck of a man wedged between the cutting edges of an instrument associated with moderation, depicted the ordinary Tamil man being crushed by the moderates, among whom Neelan was prominent. The members of the LTTE lobby revealed to worst in themselves. It was as though they would all be affronted by anyone seeing the slightest good in the dead man.

*Photo – Sithie Tiruchelvam and Neelan Tiruchelvam

Another group of LTTE-leaning Tamils pointed to thousands of tragedies affecting ordinary civilians and said that by comparison they could not find sorrow in their heart for Neelan Tiruchelvam. Many of them also suggested that Neelan’s activities as a democrat and human rights activist had no meaning for the Tamil people as the latter had neither democracy nor human rights. The main issue was avoided. The civilians wanted an end to war. But could not, owing to the LTTE’s intolerance of democracy, organise and speak for themselves. It is in this unenviable plight of the Tamil community that Neelan Tiruchelvam’s role became indispensable.

Read More

Hybrid Special Court to also investigate frauds under the cover of war - Govt

By Zacki Jabbar-September 19, 2015

The proposed Hybrid Special Court to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka during the period between February 21, 2002 to May 19, 2009 against the then government and the LTTE would also investigate frauds and corruption that had taken place under the cover of a raging war, the government said yesterday.

 Joint Cabinet Spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the Report on the probe conducted by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) had also called for an inquiry into frauds and corruption that had taken place during the said period.

"Massive frauds and corruption that had been perpetrated under the guise of prosecuting a war, would also receive the due attention of the Hybrid Special Court to be established", Senaratne said  The report and recommendations of the UN OHCHR had not named any individuals but called for a credible domestic investigation into the accusations that had been levelled; he noted adding that there was no conclusion that war crimes had been committed.   

The Minister said that the UNHRC by calling for a Hybrid Special Court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, had only reiterated the need for an independent domestic mechanism assisted by foreign judges that could ensure justice for the affected persons regardless of the community they belonged to.

The government while assuring the UNHRC that the OHCHR Report and recommendations would receive due attention has emphasised that it represents a human rights and not criminal probe. "We fully recognise that the investigation on Sri Lanka represents a human rights and not criminal investigation. We will ensure that its content as well as recommendations receive due attention of the relevant authorities, including the new mechanisms that are envisaged to be set up", the Cabinet spokesman said.

It has also agreed on continued engagement with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and his office, as well as the systems and procedures of the UNHRC aimed at upholding the human rights of all Sri Lankans.

Pledging to ensure non-recurrence of the  allegations of rights violations, the government said it would commence a dialogue with all stake holders, especially victims of the conflict, communities, political parties, civil society representatives, military, bilateral partners and other international organisations in establishing mechanisms and measures that would  facilitate the right to know, right to justice, reparations and guaranteeing non-recurrence with a view to  achieving reconciliation and durable  peace.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who represented  the country  at the  opening of the 30th Sessions of the UNHRC in Geneva  earlier this week, told a news conference in Colombo on Thursday,  that a ‘four-tier mechanism’ would be established in conformity with the UN OHCHR recommendations. 

"Consultations with the relevant parties aimed at establishing the proposed mechanisms would commence in October. It would be finalised in January 2016 and implemented within 18 months. We have undertaken this journey not because of international pressure, but since there is no other way", he added.

Draft Resolution for promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka to Human Rights Council

(Lanka-e-News -19.Sep.2015, 5.15 AM) 

HRC 30th Session – Draft Resolution

Item 2:  Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka 

The Human Rights Council, 

Preambular paragraphs

Pp1
Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, (HRC 25/1)

Draft Resolution for Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka to Human Rights... by Thavam Ratna

Release All Reports On Last Phase Of War Immediately: A Group Of Sri Lankans Tells Sirisena

September 19, 2015

A concerned group of Sri Lankan foreign policy observers have called upon President Maithripala Sirisena to immediately table “Presidential Commission’s International Advisors Report” on the final phase of the conflict at the ongoing Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva.

We publish below the petition sent by a group of civil society members, retired diplomats, ex Parliamentarians and expatriates requesting the President of Sri Lanka to table the Report on the 2nd Mandate of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons immediately at Human Rights Council.

His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena,
President of Sri Lanka

Your Excellency,

We the undersigned,  are very concerned about the mechanisms proposed in the Report of the  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka, which was presented to the UN Human Rights Council  in Geneva by Prince Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the 16th of September.

We are particular perturbed that the UNHRC conclusions had no opportunity to consider the rigorous legal & military analysis  conducted  by the international advisory council, that had on the 15th of August 2015 completed its task by issuing a report to the Government on the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka as stipulated in the 2nd Mandate of the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons, otherwise known as the “Paranagama Commission“.

Thus, we would like to draw your attention to two separate paragraphs in UNHCR report, which itself laments the fact that the UN Human Rights Council members and especially the OHCR team that undertook a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), were not privy to the report on the  2nd Mandate of the Paranagama Commission. The advanced unedited version of the report that was released on the 11th of  September 2015 stated as follows:Read More

 U.S. sees strong intent in new Sri Lankan government to address rights issues 

Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 08:08 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 19, Washington: The new government of Sri Lanka has "a very strong intent" in addressing rights concerns, a top United States official said, calling for a credible domestic probe with "substantial involvement" from international community to address justice and accountability.

"We have seen (in the new government), what we would say a very strong intent," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, who visited the island late last month, told PTI.

"We have seen that the government in the past nine months in office has done more to try to build trust and move the country towards a more inclusive society, than perhaps been done in the last nine years and beyond," said Biswal, the Obama Administration's point person for South and Central Asia.
"That is an encouraging sign. It is a long road ahead for the country, for the government, for the (new Sri Lankan) President (Maithripala Sirisena) and for the people," she said in response to a question.
Biswal said much needs to be done to heal the wounds that are still open on both sides from a very brutal and a very divisive conflict between the troops and the LTTE. Rights groups claim troops killed 40,000 civilians in the final months of the nearly three decades-long civil war that ended in 2009. The LTTE is also accused of war crimes.

"That would take time and would take very persistent effort on all sides towards reconciliation and no one should be saying one about the process. It is a difficult process, it is a long process. There will inevitably be setbacks.

"It is fundamentally in the interest of the Sri Lankan people to secure the peace and prosperity of all of these citizens, and I think what motivates us is that hope and that desire to support a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka that brings opportunity for all its citizens," Biswal said.
During her visit to Lanka late last month, she said the US will move a pro-Sri Lanka resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in its September session, in what was seen as a U-turn in America's stance.

Interestingly, it was a US-moved resolution that called for the first time called for an international probe into alleged war crimes and was adopted last year in the 47-member UNHRC. The US was at the forefront in adopting a total of three resolutions at the UN human rights session on Sri Lanka.
Biswal yesterday said that from the very beginning, the US has said it would support a credible domestic effort to address those long-standing issues of justice and accountability in Sri Lanka.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report on the investigation into Sri Lanka's allege human rights violations called for a "hybrid special court" with international judges and investigators to conduct the domestic tribunal.

HRC Hailed for landmark report on wartime abuses in Sri Lanka

Sep 19, 2015

United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) welcomes the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), which states that "war crimes and crimes against humanity, violations that are among the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, have apparently been committed in Sri Lanka by all parties in the conflict." In particular, the report of the UN rights body recommends the creation of an internationalized court mechanism to ensure accountability for the horrific crimes committed. USTPAC strongly supports the full implementation of the recommendations of the report.

Dr. Karunyan Arulanantham, President of the United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC), stated that: "The report describes the serious atrocities committed by both sides during the final period of Sri Lanka's civil war. It also confirms that security forces expanded their presence in the Tamil heartland of the North and East after the war's end. This militarization was part of a coordinated policy of oppression that enables continuing gross human rights violations that still occur to this day."

"The report's recommendations offer valuable steps to provide redress to victims and move towards reconciliation. Crucially, High Commissioner Zeid urged the creation of a hybrid special court integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and investigators. This internationalized court would be empowered to try war crimes and crimes against humanity. USTPAC strongly supports this recommendation."

"It is critical that the report's recommendations be fully implemented. Tamils and other deeply affected communities will only find such an internationalized court acceptable; a purely domestic mechanism for accountability will never have legitimacy in the eyes of the affected communities, and never allow for reconciliation."

"Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Samaraweera's address to the Council and the government's official response to the OISL report suggest a willingness to change the entrenched oppression of the Tamil community. While we are encouraged by his words, it will take deeds, rather than just words, to begin to drive away the dark shadow that has been cast on the Tamil community for six long decades. The report also urges the government toaccede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This action would send a strong signal about the government's conviction to fully address the entrenched culture of impunity."

"It is now incumbent upon the Human Rights Council to accept this report and reflect its findings and recommendations within a new resolution. USTPAC thanks the US government for its steadfastness with successive resolutions at the Human Rights Council that brought about the OISL report. We urge the US government to stay the course by adopting ALL recommendations of the Report into a new resolution at this current council session. The road to attain transitional justice and restore trust will be challenging. The Council must steer Sri Lanka down the right path to ensure that its cycle of ethnic violence and oppression is finally put to an end."

Save Sathurukondan Wetlands: Going once…Going twice…

By Thangamuthu Jayasingam –September 19, 2015

Dr. Thangamuthu Jayasingam

An elephant cannot be conserved by conserving the forest only. It needs a surrounding/within a grassland where it feeds and walks. Similarly a wetland/mangrove could not be just conserved by the tree vegetation only. The open parks with water is essential for the life of the birds that brood there or visit and enjoy.

Look at the wetland below photographed by M. A. Saleem (http:// easternsrilanka. natgeotourism.com/content/sathurukondan-wetlands-and-birds-sanctuary-batticaloa/sri2bf535d6849259911). This is SATHURUKONDAN WETLANDS. This may not be there for you to see tomorrow(pictures taken on 10th September are given below) , as it is being blocked and filled by persons who claim to be the owners of the land. The Batticaloa lagoon is meters away across the lagoon and at full capacity it fills these places photographed and in every sense is a part of the lagoon at its maximum capacity.

I am not sure whether one can claim ownership to this land and even if, to my best of knowledge they could not alter the usage significantly a) that being a wetland b) that being so close to the lagoon or part of the lagoon itself. If these fundamentals are violated then we would soon not have any NATURE but only memories of it may be a few recommendations. Too wise too late is useless.

This has been a thorny issue over the past few years in the district of Batticaloa. People are trying to grab all the land possible in the district by deeds of centuries old or new ones made for conveniences. We also have to remember that those who had not been in procession of these lands for decades should not and cannot now claim for the ownerships.                               Read More